GAINESVILLE, Fla. – A Florida park was renamed after iconic rocker Tom Petty, who played at that park as a boy.

The Gainesville Sun reports that hundreds of members of the Tom Petty Nation! fan club visited Gainesville on Saturday to celebrate the star’s birthday with his music and the dedication of the former Northeast Park as Tom Petty Park.

His family was also on hand.

“My brother and I grew up in this park. We played as kids. My cousin reminded me the other day of my remark that it was a sanctuary, and it really was,” said brother Bruce Petty. “It was a place for us to escape and be kids and have fun. The fact that we are doing this today and the part that we played in it makes it so much more special.”

Petty died Oct. 2, 2017. He was born Oct. 20, 1950, in Gainesville and lived in the small city until he left for Los Angeles to make it big in the music business.

Petty sold millions of records worldwide with the Heartbreakers, the Traveling Wilburys supergroup and as a solo artist. He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2002.

His family lived a block from the Gainesville park and it was like a second home for him and his brother.

Other area events celebrated the singer and included the Tom Petty Birthday Bash and Tom Petty Weekend.

Adria Petty, Tom’s daughter, grew up in Los Angeles but spent time in North Florida with her parents. She talked about a song called “Gainesville” that’s on “An American Treasure,” a new four-CD box set of Petty’s music.

“Gainesville is an extraordinary place and if you listen to my dad’s music here, it has a different meaning. The idea of the air smelling good and the trees are green – there is nothing like this park to really illustrate that,” she said.

“‘Gainesville’ has been blasting in my head since I landed,” she said. “It’s a very important town to Florida. Florida is a really beautiful and complex state and (Gainesville) fosters a lot of intelligence and compassion and incredible manners and incredible decency.”

Local artists Carrie and Jesus Martinez painted a Tom Petty Mural at the Sidney Lanier Center, the elementary school Petty attended. They were asked to paint an 8-by-8-foot mural on canvas that was auctioned Saturday night to benefit the UF program.

“We hope to make a lot of money for a really good cause,” Carrie Martinez said. “We’re Tom Petty fans. Everybody is a Tom Petty fan.”

In a statement issued after his autopsy was released in January, his widow Dana explained, "Unfortunately Tom’s body suffered from many serious ailments including emphysema, knee problems and most significantly a fractured hip. Despite this painful injury he insisted on keeping his commitment to his fans and he toured for 53 dates with a fractured hip and, as he did, it worsened to a more serious injury." Stephen Lovekin, Getty Images

His wife added, "On the day he died, he was informed his hip had graduated to a full-on break and it is our feeling that the pain was simply unbearable and was the cause for his over use of medication." Ethan Miller, Getty Images

His family members say they knew Petty, seen here in 2005, was prescribed various pain medications, including Fentanyl patches (the powerful opioid was cited in Prince's autopsy in 2016). They say they feel Petty's death was "an unfortunate accident." Ethan Miller, Getty Images

Tom Petty, the eponymous lead singer of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, has had a long career in the music industry, spanning more than 40 years - from the launch of the band's first, self-titled album in 1976 to wrapping up his anniversary tour at the end of September. He's played in venues and festivals around the world, including Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival, as seen here in 2006. Mandy Lunn, The (Nashville) Tennessean

Sir Paul McCartney and Olivia Harrison, the widow of George Harrison (C) pose with (from left) Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne, Jim Keltner, Joe Walsh and Dhani Harrison at the ceremony honoring George Harrison of The Beatles with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on April 14, 2009. In 1988, Petty became a member of the supergroup the Traveling Wilburys, featuring Bob Dylan, Harrison, Roy Orbison and Lynne. Vince Bucci, Getty Images

Petty (L) and NARAS President Neil Portnow, appear onstage during the MusiCares Person of the Year honoring Tom Petty. He continued to release albums in the last several years, with the Heartbreakers, solo and with Mudcrunch. Kevork Djansezian